DOI:10.17951/k.2017.24.1.

57

ANNALES
U N I V E R S I TAT I S M A R I A E C U R I E - S K Ł O D O W S K A
LU BLI N – P O L ONIA
VOL. XXIV, 1 SECTIO K  2017

Department of Sociology, South-West University “Neofit Rilski” in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria

Faculty of Philosophy, South-West University “Neofit Rilski” in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria

VALENTINA MILENKOVA, DOBRINKA ST. PEICHEVA

Middle Class and the Importance of Education. Socio-Cultural

and Political Aspects

ABSTRACT

The main idea of the article is to show the importance of education as a factor in identifying the middle
class. This means that people with middle class status are involved in various structures of society and they
have reached prestigious positions respectively which, in turn, affect the extent of their inclusion in society.
Middle-class representatives have complete and successful career realization, and they are significantly
more influential from a social point of view in comparison to other individuals which are less integrated
and less successful following the public indicators of personal success: education, income, prestige and
political power. The paper is primarily based on results obtained through the European Social Survey (ESS)
under the 2006, 2009 and 2013 waves. Findings of the present paper are that quality education is not only
a function of effort, ambition and persistence, but also of parental involvement, culture capital and family
background. Educational achievements are a stimulus for middle-class expansion because they present
investment in social contacts and competition on the labour market.

Key words: education, higher education, middle class, meritocracy

INTRODUCTION

The middle class is viewed upon as a current issue which includes both the-
oretical and practical comprehension of the contemporary social differentiation,
in order to create a structural closeness and mobility in society. The middle strata
and classes have their own potential for developing society and they reveal their
specifics and characteristics in the national context. On the other hand, in a com-
58 VALENTINA MILENKOVA, DOBRINKA ST. PEICHEVA

parative perspective, the middle classes exhibit the presence of convergence in the
unfolding of the stratification reality in the separate countries. The grounds for the
existence of the middle class, its characteristics and definitions, its structures, forms
of developments, semantic connotations, models of consumption – these are the
basic themes which have become the subject of research in the academic tradition
for the middle class studying. The leading idea is that the middle class is of vast
importance in the social plan because it creates stability, ensures a balance and pro-
vides growth as it encompasses active, enterprising and educated people. Shortening
distances between “top” and “bottom” changed class ratio in economic and power
aspects [Treiman, Ganzeboom 2013: 126; Domanski 2006: 87–100; Hanhinen 2001:
13–16]. Middle-class identification under Bulgarian conditions means convergence
to the stratification structure in the developed societies and finding similarities
with them.
The basic issues of the article are: 1) Prosperity of the society depends on the
increased share of the middle class in social context. 2) Education is a specific factor
for the creation of the middle class. 3) Education is a prerequisite for individual and
social mobility and well-being. Which are the factors often ascribed in modern usage
to a “middle class”? The most often forwarded indicators of the middle class are:
• completion of tertiary education,
• holding professional qualifications,
• wealth,
• environment of upbringing,
• social network, manners and values, etc.
This means that people with middle class status are involved in various struc-
tures of society and they have reached prestigious positions respectively which, in
turn, affect the extent of their inclusion in society. Thus, education and especially
higher education is significant prerequisite for the formation of a middle class.
Middle class representatives obtain complete and successful career realization, and
they are significantly more influential from a social point of view in comparison to
other individuals which are less integrated and less successful following the public
indicators of personal success: education, income, prestige and power.

EDUCATION AS A CONDITION FOR MIDDLE CLASS

Education is a basic factor for middle class creation because it is connected with:
• acquiring the “instrumental culture” (Bernstein), including instruction knowl-
edge, skills and qualifications, so education is a prerequisite for higher pro-
fessionalism and better role conducting;
• passing of “expressive culture” (Bernstein), including rules, norms, values,
behavior models, being a condition for more strict following the social rules
reflecting the fact that more educated people are more socialized (Inlkeles).
 Middle Class and the Importance of Education. Socio-Cultural and  Political Aspects 59

Education is connected with the transmission of knowledge and norms construct-

ing cultural basis of society. The connection between dominating values and their
internalization by individuals are supported through education. Education introduces
actors in a world of publicly spread meanings. Education corresponds to individu-
als’ needs for knowledge about man, nature and society, shaping abilities for their
orientation in the world, for their comprehension of his/her own place within public
structures, for their inclusion in social relations.
Regarding the European Social Survey data [ESS 2006, 2009, 2013], it is notewor-
thy that in each subsequent year decreased the part of the Bulgarian respondents stating
that “people in this country have good opportunities for obtaining education” (Table 1).

Table 1. People has good opportunities for obtaining education (%)

2013 2009 2006
Fully agree 6.6 9.5 12.4
Somewhat agree 26.1 27.5 26.1
Neither agree, nor disagree 21.1 16.9 17.4
Somewhat disagree 15.5 15.7 15.7
Fully disagree 23.5 20.4 18.7
Don’t know 7.5 10.0 9.6
Source: Authors’ own studies.

In 2013, there is growing percentage of people who do not have a clear position
(“neither agree, nor disagree”) towards educational opportunities when compared to
2009. The obtained results are indicative that respondents manifested doubts in the
national educational system. As a matter of fact, in a normative perspective, several
political documents have been adopted concerning increasing educational opportu-
nities for inclusion: National Programme for the development of school education
and preschool training and upbringing (2006–2015); Joint Memorandum on Social
Inclusion, Bulgaria (2005); Actualized Employment Strategy (2008–2015); Educa-
tional Integration of Ethnic Minorities Children and Students Strategy (2005–2015);
National Programme for a Fuller Coverage of Students of Obligatory School Age;
National Strategy for Lifelong Learning (2014–2020). In reality, however, for а short
a period those policy documents did not affect the educational environment.
Education is important in personal and social plan because people with higher
education are:
• more critical,
• more open to changes,
• more disposed to improvement,
• better professionals,
• they have ambitious to enhance their qualification,1

1
LLL surveys were dedicated to the indicating the attitudes and real activities towards continuation of
education and to the increasing of the qualification of higher educated people in the country [Boyadjieva 2012].
60 VALENTINA MILENKOVA, DOBRINKA ST. PEICHEVA

• they have more knowledge for the world and social situation,
• they find jobs easier and their incomes are higher when compared to incomes
of other people,
• they have higher political involvement and responsibility.
The attitude towards criticism and great expectations among people of higher
education (who are mainly representatives of the middle class) was demonstrated
through the next question: “What is the situation in our educational system?” The
estimation [ESS, 2006, 2009, 2013] was made on a 10-grade scale from 00 – “very
bad” to 10 – “very good” (Table 2).

Table 2. Situation in the Bulgarian education system (%)

00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 Don’t know Year/Round
7.8 8.7 9.3 12.9 10.5 19.5 7.4 5.7 2.6 1.6 1.5 12.5 2009
12.6 10 9.2 11.5 9.3 13.4 6.5 5.9 9.1 1.2 1.4 15.9 2006
7.8 5.8 9.4 11.9 13.3 19.0 8.0 5.3 2.9 1.4 1.1 13.9 2013
Source: Authors’ own studies.

Education is evaluated as: a process, achievements, institution, rules, norms.

One can note from the data that the largest accumulations are in the negative part
of the scale. Accumulations in 2009 and 2013 are similar and they are focused on
critical considerations which mean that the educational situation in the country
has not changed. In addition, 75% of people giving negative estimation have high-
er education. That means that higher educated people put forward bigger criteria,
greater expectations and demands, due to their continued socialization, training and
institutional experience, to their more embracing view on things. Their criticism
on the situation in education follows the lack of comprehensive vision for reforms
in education, insufficient continuity between different teams at the Ministry of Ed-
ucation, leading to randomness and to piece work. In that sense education faces
a number of challenges:
1. A decline in the quality of school education in Bulgaria in the past 20 years. The
large-scale Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2012), conducted
by the OECD, demonstrated that one of the lowest educational attainment results is
that of the Bulgarian pupils (especially in mathematics and science). In addition, an
external evaluation, conducted within the Bulgarian education system – after 4th and
7th grades – also showed insufficient school attainment results of Bulgarian pupils.
2. A decline in the quality of university education in Bulgaria, especially with
the large proliferation of teaching academic institutions.
3. 22% of the economically active Bulgarian population has only primary or
lower than primary level education.
4. In Bulgarian educational institutions, students are being evaluated on the
basis of obtained knowledge rather than on the basis of practical competence. The
alignment of learning outcomes to labour market needs is tenuous.
 Middle Class and the Importance of Education. Socio-Cultural and  Political Aspects 61

5. Another problem facing education is connected with the increase of violence

at schools which is a serious challenge to education. According to Émile Durkheim
[1956], education aims at instigating and developing of a certain number of physical,
intellectual and moral situations of children, representing society in its entity, as well
as the specific social environment. In Durkheim’s understanding, discipline has to be
recognized as something good and necessary, and in a long-term perspective it creates
respect to justice, to impersonal law with its objectivity and comprehensiveness.
In that context, in view of the significance of discipline, one has to interpret the
results of the European Social Survey [2009]. The respondent estimate the statement
“School has to teach children to order and discipline” and the evaluations of that
statement were as follows (Table 3):

Table 3. School has to teach children to order and discipline (%)

Neither agree
Fully agree Agree Disagree Fully agree Don’t know
nor disagree
71.6 24.7 1.4 1.2 0.1 1.0
Source: Authors’ own studies.

The perception of school as a disciplining institution is an important and stable

aspect of social environment, nowadays, however, that becomes very topical be-
cause in recent years, school discipline turned into one of the serious deficiencies of
Bulgarian education through the increased aggression at schools, violence, alcohol
and drug abuse. In fact, deviations cover a very wide range; they include different
demonstrations of unacceptable and destructive acts concerning not only children
themselves, but the whole school communities and organizational environment. Both
parents and teachers, and the whole Bulgarian society share solidarity towards the
necessity of stricter rules, establishing order and discipline.
Emphasizing discipline as a serious problem is also connected with dropping out
of education (mentioned above), when the more intensively an individual distances
him/herself from school, the more he/she becomes isolated and, thus, educational
exclusion becomes social as well, meaning non-admission of certain individuals, as
bearers of social characteristic features, to the environment, to culture, to contacts
in communities, controlling definite resources and acquiring a prestige level, which
are attractive and significant. The active participation of the larger part of the popu-
lation in the general material culture, connected with the organization of production
conditions, based on the differentiation of labour and corresponding markets is also
significant. The lesser the possibilities of access to material culture, the more so-
cieties lose their integrating power. Thus, the precipice between gainers and losers
becomes deeper. The imbalance between economic growth and just distribution
of wealth gets bigger and the hope that an equality of chances could be attained
becomes more uncertain.
62 VALENTINA MILENKOVA, DOBRINKA ST. PEICHEVA

CIVIL AND POLITICAL ACTIVITY

In addition to that perspective, social viability would depend on degrees of adop-

tion and of inclination to participation in social processes through different types
of activities: viewing (listening to) political television (radio) broadcasts, reading
newspapers, participation in a political party association, trade union as a part of the
creation and attainment of a civil society. Generally, Bulgarian respondents [ESS
2009, 2013] are moderately active: according to the 2009 survey, on a working day,
almost half of the respondents sampled (47.1%) spent between half an hour and an
hour and a half watching news and television broadcasts on political and current
events. Based on the data obtained, it can be said that in 2013, slightly increased
the percentage of people who watch political programs (50.8%) when compared to
2009 (Table 4).
Overall activities: newspaper reading and listening to radio show small accu-
mulations (Table 4).

Table 4. Time for newspapers, radio and TV news (broadcasts) on a working day (%)23
Watching TV Watching TV Listening to radio Newspaper
political broadcasts political broadcasts political broadcasts2 reading3
(2009) (2013) (2009) (2009)
No time at all 10.9 6.5 11.6 12.4
Less than 0.5 hr. 25.5 18.5 16.1 28.8
0.5–1 hr. 34.4 34.8 8.8 10.7
1–1.5 hr. 12.7 16.0 3.7 2.2
1.5–2 hr. 6.6 8.4 1.8 0.7
2–2.5 hr. 2.4 3.8 0.6 0.1
2.5–3 hr. 1.1 2.2 0.6 0.1
More than 3 hr. 2.2 6.1 1.5 0.1
Don’t know 4.3 3.1 55.4 45.0
Source: Authors’ own studies.

The registered civil and political activity of Bulgarians in 2006, 2009 and 2013
[ESS] is also very low (Tables 5, 6, 7).

Table 5. Activity in a political party or an action group for the last 12 months (%)
2013 2009
Yes 3 3.6
No 96.7 96
Don’t know 0.2 0.4
Source: Authors’ own studies.

2
This question was not included in the 6th round of ESS – 2013.
3
Ibidem.
 Middle Class and the Importance of Education. Socio-Cultural and  Political Aspects 63

Table 6. Trade union membership (%)

2013 2009 2006
Yes, I am a member at present 5.1 4.9 5.2
Yes, I have been in the past 43.2 38.8 45.6
No 30.5 55.6 46.5
Source: Authors’ own studies.

Table 7. Political party (association) membership (%)4

2009 2006
Yes 5.8 6.1
No 94 93.5
Don’t know 0.2 0.3
Source: Authors’ own studies.

Data quoted here demonstrate that modern Bulgarians – already tired of polit-
ical events, of promises – are quite disappointed with unrealized expectations of
well-being, of justice and of improving of social life. Moreover, a vacuum, which
was the result of the clash of hopes (individual and social) and lack of actual practical
changes, has appeared. Political activity is dominated by middle class representatives,
albeit weakly expressed [ESS 2009]:
• 63% of respondents included in political parties have a higher education
diploma;
• 85% of persons involved in managerial bodies of political organizations are
of higher education;
• 89% of people watching political TV broadcasts have a university degree;
• 68% of respondents reading newspapers are of higher education.
In contemporary societies social position has been described and perceived in
terms of meritocracy as a function of personal talent and efforts; and those who
deserve to succeed – reach it, while the others with lesser possibilities – fail. And
because mobility is a movement both “upwards” and “downwards” personal failures
are a consequence of the competitive situation and the inability to prove oneself in
society. Mobility has different dimensions, but “basic abilities necessary to a con-
solidation in a social plan include mastering of one basic knowledge and abilities of
technological and social nature, which is the possibility for development and actions
in a complex and highly technological environment, characterized mostly by the
significance of information technologies” [Berghman 1995].
In the long run, processes of social participation are dynamic and multidimen-
sional by nature, they are connected with work and income levels, with degrees of
education and abilities, with citizenship, and participation in local community. In
order to achieve success, members of a community or society have to share different
institutions – school, health care, public transport. Those shared institutions contribute

4
Ibidem.
64 VALENTINA MILENKOVA, DOBRINKA ST. PEICHEVA

to the feeling of solidarity in the population, which is why exclusion and inclusion
can be considered in “economic, political, social terms” [Giddens 2001: 323].
In that context we can identify the role of education as a factor for mobility and
prosperity, as a condition for advancement and stability, because, in fact, it is not
coincidence that it is education and science that are evaluated as “driving forces” of
European society, referred to as “knowledge society” and “whole life studying society”.

EDUCATION AND THE MIDDLE CLASS EXPANSION

The actual occupation of the “middle” position is a result of the development

of the overall contemporary social structure, the socio-group nature, and specific,
socio-economic power, cultural, and consumption patterns, basically, the overall
stratification status determines the strata of the entrepreneurs, intellectuals and ad-
ministrators to be in the middle groups. In the specific case, the sustainability of
the middle class definition is in the preserving and reproduction of the hierarchy as
a basic principle in the organizational and social structure as a whole, the preserving
of the basic hierarchies in societies.
Education plays a key role in increasing chances; it is a necessary and important
condition for taking a professional position and middle class statutes, as education
is a form of investment in better qualification and level of knowledge. The role of
education as a mobility stimulus reveals itself most clearly when it is observed for
a longer period of time on the basis of a cohort analysis, allowing for observing
the transitions in the framework of the cohort itself (inter-generation perspective)
and in relation to parents, i.e. in inter-generation section. The effect of educational
expansion depends on the initial position and class affiliation of individuals, as well
as on preferences and the level of “saturation” of the very educational institutes. In
that sense, one can state that the dimensions of individual and social mobility are not
identical. There are surveys [Shavit, Blossfeld 1993], according to which, the effect
of the social origin is strong at the beginning of the educational career and then it
decreases with later degrees of training; there are two possible explanations for the
decreasing of the effects of the origin on successful transitions:
• an explanation, depending on arguments following the differences in family
life; here the effects decrease through transitions, but they remain constant
within cohorts;
• an explanation, connected with a selection process; here social groups become
more similar in relation to some variables – abilities, ambitions, motives [Mare
1981], leading to a stronger effect of the observed socio-economic factors
[Shavit, Blossfeld 1993: 2–20].
However, the educational expansion process in all industrialized countries marks
a decrease of inequalities in educational opportunities between socio-economic strata
[Shavit, Blossfeld 1993: 15], in spite of the existence of surveys showing that the
 Middle Class and the Importance of Education. Socio-Cultural and  Political Aspects 65

inequality in educational opportunities is almost stable over time [Shavit, Blossfeld

1993: 2]. That is why it can be maintained that the role of education as a factor of
class support is compatible with: the increased entering of children from the work-
ing class into higher educational levels and with ascending educational and class
mobility [Goldthorpe 2007: 96]. Education as a mobility factor in Bulgarian society
was presented in other surveys [Mihailov 1988]5.
The theoretical works are based on the optimistic view on the potential role of
education to improve life chances of individuals from different social strata. How-
ever, the formulation of such conceptions cannot be separated from the dominating
political ideas of the second half of the 20th century. In most Western European
societies, beliefs in individuals’ rights connected with the “new” place of man in
social life are widespread. The ideas of freedom and rights unambiguously define the
theses for equality in the access to: goods, educational achievements, and well-be-
ing. In relation to education, concepts proclaiming it as a condition for the so-called
contest mobility [Turner 1971: 171–189], presuming to guarantee to individuals
a possibility for a sufficiently long training which is not predetermined by social
origin, and selection to be realized at a relatively later stage, are becoming popular.
Education obtains a predominant role for an individual’s success and his/her social
position. Birth status ceases to be of leading importance in relation to the future and
is transformed into merit status, including education level as one of the important
indicators (even the most important one). According to Bulgarian respondents [ESS
2006], education is important for success in today’s life (Table 8).

Table 8. The extent to which education is important for success in today’s life (%)6
Exceptionally Not quite Absolutely not
Very important Important Don’t know
important important important
42.4 30.4 17.7 5.1 1.6 2.8
Source: Authors’ own studies.

It can be noted that 90.5% of the respondents have pointed to education as an

important condition (“exceptionally important”, “very important”, and “important”)
for prosperity. In addition, the fact that education is evaluated as a significant ex-
istential circumstance can be noticed in the educational profile of respondents and
their environment (Table 9).

5
Data from the survey established that in comparison with the year 1966, social groups went through
dynamical increasing of their education and status [Tilkidjiev 1988: 284–286].
6
This question was not included in ESS from 2009 and 2013.
66 VALENTINA MILENKOVA, DOBRINKA ST. PEICHEVA

Table 9. Educational profile of respondents (%)

2013 Respondent Father Mother
Lower than elementary 2.1 9.2 12.8
Elementary 3.7 10.4 11.9
Basic 22.3 37.1 35.3
Secondary 48.7 28.8 27.7
College 4.1 1.7 3.3
Higher 18.7 8.1 6.7
Postgraduate qualification/aca-
0.4 0.1 0.1
demic degree

2009 Respondent Father Mother

Lower than elementary 2.4 6.2 8.2
Elementary 5.1 12.3 13.7
Basic 22.1 33.1 32.3
Secondary 49.4 34.1 32.1
College 4.6 1.9 3.8
Higher 15.2 8.5 6.6
Postgraduate qualification/aca-
1.1 0.1 0.2
demic degree

2006 Respondent Father Mother

Lower than elementary 2.4 7.6 9.8
Elementary 6.4 13.1 15.0
Basic 24.3 35.5 34.9
Secondary 45.6 26.9 25.1
College 6.1 2.0 4.4
Higher 15.1 7.9 5.3
Don’t know 0.2 6.9 5.6
Source: Authors’ own studies.

Compared data concerning the educational profile of respondents and their parents
show a change in direction of increase of educational status , which is indicative for:
1) the presence of inter-generation mobility; 2) the fact that education is considered and
estimated as an important factor for success and individual development; 3) the fact
that the number of both secondary and higher education respondents and their parents
has increased in 2009 when compared to 2006; 4) increasing the share of respondents
with higher education in 2013 when compared to 2009. All that comes to support the
thesis that education is not only a value, it is actually mapped on educational strate-
gies of Bulgarians (although, as a matter of fact, educational aspirations and realized
strategies of Bulgarians are marked with certain modesty, related to a European scale).
At the same time, educational achievements are not only a function of efforts and
ambitions but also of family involvement which means that education attainments and
well-being are connected with family environment and its importance for individuals.
That is so because high parental status creates conditions for children to attain – just
like their parents – high educational achievements and positions.
 Middle Class and the Importance of Education. Socio-Cultural and  Political Aspects 67

EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAMILY

The role of family and the influence of educational status of middle class parents
on generations are expressed through the choice of a school by children. The school
choice is actually ruled by specific determinants of parents’ social and educational
identity, but it is also dependent on economic and financial living conditions. In
that sense, even when there is no expressed partiality when it comes to selection of
students, its social character is preserved due to social definiteness of educational
attainments [Grusky 2008; DiMaggio 1982].
We have studied the parents’ educational status of students in several Bulgarian
foreign languages high schools, supporting the thesis of cultural capital and repro-
duction [Bourdieu 1977; Bourdieu, Passeron 1977]. Cultural capital as a system of
implicit and deeply internalized values and resources transferred to generations is
influenced by social class, race (ethnos) and parents’ education [Lareau, Weininger
2003]. Cultural capital examined as particular cultural practices, activities, resources,
concerns school results, educational attainments and future social individual choices
[Ganzeboom et al. 1990; Kalmijn, Kraaykamp 1996; Dumais 2002].
Educational values, embodied into mechanisms of educational system urge
parents and students to compete for places at high quality schools – they choose
to take part in that competition and so they become part of the reproduction of the
dominant culture when they value one type of education and not another; when they
tolerate particular skills and qualification, which actually are artefacts. Following
of the dominant culture by families symbolizes gaining mobility resources through
access to high status education. And so it turns out that school choice is one of the
significant biographical acts, and, as Anthony Giddens stated, the choice connects
“power” and “stratification” [Giddens 1995]. It is important to put an accent on di-
verse institutional nets in which children contact as well as on to the parents’ effort
to guide their children's success in specific fields.
Through the following analysis we are going to try and show how cultural capital
inherited through family and incorporated into children is transferred to respective
educational institutions, which tolerate a particular type of profiling and socialization,
which ultimately leads to the reproduction of the capital. Important indicator for the
definition of school prestige can be derived by the number of the candidates for this
institution. In the last five years (2008–2013), 71% of the candidates (after the 7th
grade) in the City of Sofia have indicated, among their first five preferences, several
foreign language schools – the German Language High School, the First English
Language High School, the Spanish Language High School, the Second English
Language High School, and the French Language High School. Subsequently, the
entrance grades for those schools were the highest – in that order7. Thus, selective

7
For that reason, in the following analysis, the notion of “elite schools” implies foreign language
schools.
68 VALENTINA MILENKOVA, DOBRINKA ST. PEICHEVA

process becomes possible just because of the great number of candidates and one
can select the best among them, in that case, the individuals with the highest grades.
Language high schools show the following important features, which distinguish
them substantially from the other secondary educational institutes:
1. High degree of selectivity at the entrance in the choice of pupils;
2. A specific individual profile of teachers, combining high professionalism with
higher expectations and demands by their students.
3. Competitive spirit and great competitive power of graduates of foreign language
schools in continuing their education at higher schools. Middle class parents know
that education in middle school, which ensures the enrollment in a good university, is
especially important for the future life chances of their children [Roberts 2015: 93–108].

EMPIRICAL DATA

As a result of the 2010 non-representative survey of 360 students chosen ran-

domly from German, English, Spanish and French language high schools in Sofia
(90 persons from each school) it was established that for 61.1% of persons (220),
their parents were also graduates of a foreign language school8. In addition to those
data, there are presented some results from a survey (following “experimental de-
sign” schedule) and carried out in 1996 at three foreign language schools: English,
French and German schools and at two comprehensive schools – No. 81 and No.
40 (comprising the control-group) – in Sofia9. The subject of analysis was the sur-
roundings – family and school, as well as its features: education and profession of
parents, specific characteristics of educational process and environment, teachers
and children achievements.

Education of respondents’ parents

– fathers: 92.0% from the English language school had a university degree,
95.6% from the German language school and 93.2% from the French language
school, while 46.7% from school No. 81 and 42.2% from school No. 40 had
a higher education diploma;
– mothers: with higher education – 85.6% from the English language school,
91.9% from the German language school, 92.2% from the French language
school as opposed to 45% from School No. 81 and 42.0% from School No. 40.

8
Using a standardised interview with respondents as the main research technique is focussed on the
education and profession of parents in more detail later on.
9
Control-group was important for results. There were 100 students and 10 teachers from each school
to be surveyed. The methodology included standardised interview with teachers, group inquiry with stu-
dents, information of the state of the school given by schoolmasters, opinions of experts from the Regional
Inspectorate in Sofia on 10 school subjects.
 Middle Class and the Importance of Education. Socio-Cultural and  Political Aspects 69

It is necessary to note the tendency that husbands in the middle-class family have
a similar educational background, which creates a trans-generational reproduction,
distinct middle-class lifestyles, and compete for higher positions than their parents
[Roberts, 2015: 93–108].

Profession

The parents of the respondents from foreign language schools were mainly
middle-class statuses (over 85%) – doctors (25%), teachers (4%), engineers (7%),
diplomats (3%), lawyers (21%), economists (9%), scientists (5%), journalists (11%),
12% ran their own business; compared to less than 30% of the representatives of the
middle class from the control-group of schools Nos. 81 and 40 (Sofia).
It is clear from those data that individuals coming from the middle class were not
only potential candidates, but the most frequent users of foreign language training
as well. And that is so, because middle-class representatives in any case guarantee
a greater affinity to those linguistic and social practices supporting them, while
generational traditions and life styles affordable to those families gave a significant
advantage to their representatives. Foreign language secondary schools, to a great-
er extent than general education schools, are identified as places for confirming
meritocracy standards, supported by teachers’ demands as well. In general, on the
background of the decreasing quality of education, and that was shared by all the
Inspectorate experts, as well as by the interviewed teachers, foreign language schools
were to a lesser extent influenced by devaluation of educational grades and marks.
In the process of thinking, one somehow gets lost in what is prerequisite and what
is a consequence, what is cause and what is the result, as talented students demand
highly qualified teachers, and the latter stimulate the intellectual development of their
students, their aspirations and ambitions. But that is only on the first glance because
within the framework of an elite school predominant place and sensible role is given
to selection, starting at the “entrance”, passing through the training process and at
the “exit”. Language schools can support a definite element of continuity between
parents and children in this country, as well. It is necessary to emphasize the fact
that 61% of students from the non-representative sample had parents who graduated
a foreign language school. That fact in itself is indicative of raising language school
position as a recognized institutional mechanism of socialization being closest to
family expectations and aspirations [Bourdieu 1989]. In that aspect, we have followed
up cultural capital including educational and professional profile of parents, cultural
practices, and tastes, valid both for families and for children.
70 VALENTINA MILENKOVA, DOBRINKA ST. PEICHEVA

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, the following basic issues, connected with the significance of

education to the middle class, can be presented:
1. Key factor for the establishment of the middle class is education (higher edu-
cation). Representatives of the middle class are more demanding in terms of active
school involvement in pupils’ actions and life.
2. Education becomes important for middle-class families, not only according
to how and where their children study, but also due to the higher transparency and
the connection between the educational routes and employment in the middle class
[Roberts 2015].
3. There are good conditions for education in the country although educational
system is not highly valued by the people and they are of critical opinion on educa-
tion and education process.
4. There is a real process of increasing of educational level (secondary and higher
education) in the country. That is an indicator of intergenerational mobility.
5. Education is an important factor for success in society: high social statuses
and political culture of people confirm that.
6. Personal ambitious for education are important but necessary are also: in-
vestments, successful economy, employment market, sustainable political system.
7. Family and its resources have relation to educational achievements of pupils.
8. According to respondents, education is “important for the success in life
today”.
9. Educational achievements are a stimulus for the middle class expansion be-
cause they are the basis for investment in social contacts and competition in the
labour market.
10. Social viability depends on degrees of adoption and of inclination to participa-
tion in social processes through different types of activities: watching (listening to)
political television (radio) broadcasts, reading newspapers, participation in a political
party association, trade union as a part of a creation and attainment of a civil society.
Along with all that was said, one has to underline the great significance of the
presence of individual educational aspirations, but an environment where those
ambitions can be realized and which supports the realization of one’s intentions is
also necessary. This means that personal aspiration towards education is not a suffi-
cient condition for individual and social mobility. So as to provide people with the
opportunities that would help them to achieve success in life, investments in the field
education have to be made. There is a need for training conditions to be supplied by
a successful economics, stable bank system, opened workplaces, or sustainable politi-
cal system. Only then will the middle-class representatives gain personal satisfaction.
 Middle Class and the Importance of Education. Socio-Cultural and  Political Aspects 71

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72 VALENTINA MILENKOVA, DOBRINKA ST. PEICHEVA

BIOGRAPHIES

Valentina Milenkova, professor, head of the Department of Sociology at the South-

West University “Neofit Rilski”, in Blagoevgrad (Bulgaria) (https://ais.swu.bg/
profile/vmilenkova). She holds lectures on “Sociology of Education” and “Social
Stratification and Inequalities”. She defended her doctoral thesis on “Education
and Social Reproduction” at the Institute of Sociology of the Bulgarian Academy
of Sciences. On this basis, Milenkova has also provided scientific consultancy to
the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science, NESET and the Open Society
Foundations. Milenkova has worked on the broad area of social dimension of ed-
ucation and training policies as a researcher and lecturer. She has 10 monographs
and about 90 articles in Bulgarian and foreign journals. Milenkova is a member of
the Editorial boards of the “Romanian Journal of Social Sciences” and “Education
Research Journal”. Her research interests are particularly focused on educational
policies for ethnic minorities, social inequalities, and the significance of education.
E-mail: vmilenkova@gmail.com

Dobrinka St. Peicheva, full professor, head of Laboratory of Sociology at the

South-West University “Neofit Rilski” in Blagoevgrad (Bulgaria) and head of the
International Seminar Media and Education. Member of MC of two COST Action in
the field of media and politics; head of 5 national academic projects; national coor-
dinator of two international projects; participant in 2 international projects. Regular
Member of IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communication Re-
search) since 2007. Member of ICA (International Communication Association) in
the years 2007–2010. Main books: Digitalization and Social Transformations (ed.),
Blagoevgrad 2017; Sociological Spaces (ed.), Blagoevgrad 2015; Mass Media Ef-
fects, Blagoevgrad 2014; Mass Media Effects, Blagoevgrad 2012; Mediatized Reality,
Blagoevgrad 2012; Economics and Communication. The World of Communication
and Media Society, Sofia 2003. Authoress of more than 50 other publications in
Bulgaria and abroad. E-mail: peichevadobrinka@abv.bg